Thankyou
very much for the reviews apart from the one from a 14 year old brat
who should think about her own stories before being unnecessarily
rude about other peoples!

Chapter
Five

Helena
wasn't allowed to go to the funeral. All the kitchen staff and the
cleaning maids and the servants attended the funeral of Victoria
Sharpe but Helena was left to mope away the morning on her own.

Nobody
knew Victoria's exact cause of death. There were whispers among the
staff, mutters of murder while others suspected suicide, though
Helena didn't see why Victoria would want to cut holes in her neck
to kill herself. Somebody suggested that it was an animal that had
bitten her throat and it was this theory which most people agreed
with.

Victoria
was buried in the village graveyard beyond the woods. Her body was
laid to rest in the consecrated ground, there was drinking and food
in the celebration of her life and then the excitement died down.
Everybody went back to their work, silently grieving the young woman
who had died before her time.

Helena
saw even less of William. Her father locked himself in his study and
refused to speak to anybody, even his wife. Helena hadn't forgotten
the mark she saw on his pale skin and she found herself worried for
his health and his sanity like never before. She even went as far to
request Luke's help into breaking into the study. Luke agreed
immediately.

They
did it a week from Victoria's funereal. William had been extremely
sick and Emily had managed to convince him to take a day of, to
recuperate and regain some strength. Helena couldn't believe their
luck and she didn't think there would be another opportunity to do
it. If they wanted to find out what her father was up to they had to
do it tonight.

At
the stroke of midnight by the chimes of the clock in Helena's room
the children sneaked along the corridor and placed their ears against
the door. There was silence on the other side of the door. Helena
tried the door handle but found the door to be locked. She glanced
meaningfully at Luke who disappeared and re-appeared a few minuets
later shaking his head. The other door was locked to but Helena had
prepared for such an eventuality. She had stolen two keys from her
father's bedroom while he slept, one for this door and one for the
other door.

When
Helena showed the keys to Luke his disappointed face split into a
grin and he took one of the keys from her and jammed it in the lock.
He turned the key and they heard a distinct click. Helena turned the
door handle and pushed the door open noiselessly. They were in.

After
locking the door behind them Helena turned at took her first look at
William's study in the moonlight. She had often been inside before
but it had always been in the day and she had always had her father's
permission. Tonight a feeling of badness came over her. She knew that
she wasn't meant to be here and she knew that if her father ever
found out he would be beyond furious. They would just have to make
sure they didn't disturb anything so that William wouldn't notice
anything was amiss.

The
study was a large rectangle room with two doors, one in the north
wall and one in east wall. They had used the east door and directly
opposite them was a large window with moonlight beaming through the
wavy glass. The moonlight fell upon a desk with an arrangement of
papers, an ink pot and an old quill.

"Shall
I light the candle?" Luke asked.

"Yes."

There
was a scurry as Luke found his matches and lit a single candle. He
held it, his face illuminated by the flickering flame.

The
study was filthy. Helena knew that Luke's sister, Alexandra, hadn't
been in to clean the room since her fathers return. All the surfaces
were covered in a thick layer of dust, the floor was scattered with
mouldy breadcrumbs and Helena rather thought she caught the glint of
a rat's beady eye. But as she turned to look at the experimentation
table her heart started to beat faster.

She
could see why William didn't want any of the staff in the room. On
the experiment table where one could sometimes find the dissected
heart of a cow or the brain of a horse there was now an array of
glass cylinders and test tubes filled with some dark liquid.

"What
do you think it is?" asked Luke. They approached the table, their
eyes glued to the strange liquid.

"I
don't know," Helena said, astounded, "Look at this one!"

At
the end of the table was a lonely glass container with liquid
swimming inside. But this liquid was different. It glowed in the
candle light, a fierce red colour that reminded Helena instantly of
blood.

Blood…death…Victoria!

Helena
had never considered that Victoria's death could have anything to
do with the secret being kept in William's study. Her little mind
had never dwelled upon something so extreme but not that she could
see his experiments, his blood experiments, her mind delved into the
possibility that the events could all be connected. It wasn't
everybody on the Yorkshire moors that a maid died from being attacked
by an animal that had gotten into the house.

"Look,"
said Luke, pointing to a dark corner, "there's the coffin."

It
was indeed the coffin and as the candle light gleamed over the
varnished black wood they saw that it was empty.

"What
do you suppose was in there?" mumbled Helena, running her hands
along the burgundy silk that lined the inside of the coffin.

"The
blood?" suggested Luke.

"No,
I don't think do," said Helena, frowning, "Why would blood need
to be transported in a coffin?"

"I
don't know but there must be a reason and I don't think-"

"Shhh!"
hissed Helena. Luke stopped speaking and quickly put out the candle,
throwing them into darkness.

They
children stayed still for a moment. Helena held her breath, straining
with her ears so much that it almost hurt. She could have sworn there
had been footsteps in the hall…

Hardly
giving any thought to covering up their tracks from William Helena
quickly shoved the key into the lock of the door that they hadn't
entered by and pulled it open. She and Luke rushed through and she
closed the door behind them.

It
wasn't until much later when they had bid each other goodnight and
gone to their bedrooms to sleep that Helena realised she hadn't
locked the door on their way out of the study. There was a few
seconds of feeling sick before remembering that her father was ill in
bed and she could always lock it early in the morning and then
replace the stolen keys.

With
that plan in mind Helena quickly fell asleep, not knowing the
problems that her little error would cause.

William
unlocked the east door to his study with a sense of relief. He had
managed to awake early and slip past his wife unnoticed. She was
obviously going to make him spend another day in bed but he didn't
have time, the rest had done him good but he had a schedule to follow
if he was going to be successful in his plight.

The
coffin lid was set firmly in place and early morning sunlight was
streaming through the windows. William glanced at the blood
experiments on the table before drawing the curtains over the windows
and blocking out the light. He lit a couple of candles before tapping
on the lid of the coffin.

The
vampire pushed open the coffin door and sat up. His eyes were
drowning black pools; they appeared to suck all the light from the
room in a greedy fashion. That pale face always frightened William
but he didn't have any choice. He had to do what he had to do.

William
picked up his syringe and the vampire in his usual routine rolled up
his shirt sleeve and stuck out his arm. William injected the needle
into the vampire's vein and took a measured amount of his blood. He
poured it into a beaker, satisfied that he had taken the right amount
but trying to delay the moment which was coming next.

"Now
it is my turn," said the deep voice of the vampire. William turned
away from the table, his features desperate.

"It
makes me sicker. The blood loss is slowing down the process,"
William pleaded. The vampire smiled cruelly, revealing his pointed
canines.

"Would
you rather I kill another girl?" he asked simply.

No!"
said William viciously and then he relaxed, "No of course not…"

"Then
step forwards."

William
reminded himself that he had no choice. He had to do it. It was the
only way.

That
thought was the only one he could use to force himself to step
forwards and give himself to the hungry vampire.

The
vampire took William's shoulders in his large arms and leaned
forwards towards his exposed neck. William felt the stinging pain of
the two teeth tearing little holes in his flesh and he felt the
release of the blood. The vampire sucked hungrily and William turned
his head in the direction of the north door, resisting the urge to
push away the greedy vampire who was sucking away his life.

Alexandra
had fished the cleaning of the rooms on the whole of the top floor.
She had washed the floors, beat the carpets, dusted the ornaments and
changed the bed sheets. Her jobs were done for the week and she could
go down into the kitchen for a well earned drink and a slice of
special chocolate cake.

She
could, but something inside her head nagged. She hadn't been in
William's study for weeks and the room was sure to be a dusty mess.
The longer it was left the worse it would get.

A
sneaky feeling came over Alexandra. She knew it was wrong, she knew
that she would get the sack if she were caught but she also knew
there was something in that room, something important, something
William didn't want anybody else to see. Besides he was in bed, he
had been ill in the night and his wife, Emily had refused to let him
work.

Tip
toeing to the study (though she didn't know why because she was the
only one who cleaned on this floor and the others were in bed)
Alexandra rested her hand on the door handle of the north door. She
didn't expect the door to be unlocked, William was intelligent and
careful, but she decided to try anyway. She turned the door handle
and to her immense surprise the door swung open and allowed her entry
to the study.

But
when Alexandra laid eyes upon the horror within the room she wished
that she was blind.

The
curtains were closed against the sunlight and the room was only lit
with a few candles but she saw everything clearly. William's grave
face was looking in the direction of the door and a man shaped person
had his hands locked on William's shoulders. The unknown man was
moving his mouth, sucking something; it dribbled from the sides of
his lips.

It
was blood!

Alexandra
didn't scream. She couldn't make a sound as her eyes widened in
stunned disbelief. William shoved the man- the monster- away
and stared at Alexandra with confusion and panic. The creature
flashed its teeth at her- its fangs- and grinned at her obvious
disgust. She imagined those sharp teeth breaking through her skin and
the scream came.

But
before the scream could leave her lips William darted forwards and
clapped his hand over her mouth as the monster laughed coarsely and
Alexandra saw her life flash before her eyes.

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